£600m hospitals revamp plan unveiled for south-west Wales

Morriston Hospital has recently undergone a major redevelopment

Radical plans for a £600m transformation of hospital services in south-west Wales have been revealed.

Swansea's Morriston Hospital would double in size and become a regional centre for specialist treatments.

The city's other hospital, Singleton, would be a centre of excellence for diagnostic and same-day care, working with GPs, opticians and dentists.

On-the-job training and the development of a medical science park also form part of the plans.

The project, known as Arch, is a collaboration between Abertawe Bro Morgannwg and Hywel Dda health boards along with Swansea University.

It spans six local authority areas, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Swansea - covering about one million people.

If the Welsh government backs the plans by sponsoring them, it could lead to funding from Europe, NHS capital funding and public-private investment.

"It breaks free from an outdated healthcare system designed more than 50 years ago and replaces it with an accessible one specifically planned for today's needs, in purpose-built or refurbished accommodation," said ABMU's director of strategy, Sian Harrop-Griffiths.

"It focuses on keeping people healthy, or better managing disease when they're ill."

She added: "Arch is more than abstract ideas. It represents a potentially huge regional investment."

Professor Marc Clement, chief executive of Swansea University's Institute of Life Science, said Arch will help south Wales and the region have a "global reputation for best practice, health care and patient well being".

He said: "The partnership will provide world-class health care delivering skills, talent development and innovation.

"It's really important we start immediately to deliver this project and have a fully integrated service by 2020.

"The aim is to attract the best talent and give people the highest quality of service we can."

Morriston Health Campus

Land next to Morriston hospital has been bought for development

• A specialist training environment for the next-generation doctors, nurses and therapists

• A new South West Wales Cancer centre would be based here

• Expansion of the emergency department and improved diagnostic care facilities for major trauma and stroke patients

• An acute hub to house the emergency department, acute GP unit, acute medical unit and GP out-of-hours covering Swansea and Neath Port Talbot

• A new women and children unit incorporating paediatrics, obstetrics, maternity, neonatology and acute gynaecology

• Increase of beds and wards for both surgical and medical services

• Increase of critical care beds to meet current and future demand

• A hostel for nocturnal dialysis and oncology patients

Singleton Health Campus

Singleton Hospital, which sits next to Swansea University, could be expanded

• Will be a centre of excellence for a broad range of diagnostic, rehabilitation and treatment services - including both urgent and planned care. Most local people will be able to see their consultant close to their homes, and will have access to a full range of rapid assessments and diagnosis

• A rapid assessment and ambulatory care centre would give access to state of the art diagnostics including advanced imaging and laboratory facilities. Open seven days a week and accessible to the public via their GP

• Beds under the care of GP and nurse practitioners available 24/7. Keeping care close to people's homes, they will help patients who need extra support to keep them out of a main hospital ward, or before going home after a stay in hospital

• Mental health older people assessment beds

• Integrated re-ablement and recovery centre with NHS, local authority, voluntary and private sectors working together for patients

• An eye-centre for same-day care

• Oncology/radiology for cancer day patients

The Hywel Dda Campus

• The Wales Centre for Rural Health will be a centre of excellence for research, education, service development and technology innovation designed to improve access to healthcare in the more remote areas of Wales

• It will help provide a workforce skilled and suited for rural healthcare in Wales

• It is not based on a single site but a number of integrated community and primary care resource centres across the Hywel Dda area

• These centres will bring healthcare closer to people, and include treatments and diagnostic tests usually only available in hospital settings, as well as GPs and other primary care services

Medical Science Park

Known as Medi-Park, it will set up:

• Expanding Swansea University's Institute of Life Science (ILS) healthcare technology centre

• The Bevan Academy for Leadership and Innovation in Healthcare

• An expanded joint clinical research facility with the intention of this collaboration broadening to span all three Arch partners

• The ILS Healthcare and Life Science Skills Centre featuring new and enhanced learning pathways with integration of further and higher education activity

• ILS@Morriston (ILS is already at Singleton) which will have a focus on innovation and advancements in acute care and surgery

• ILS@Hywel Dda developing research and development activity in west Wales

• Guest@ILS - a hotel-style centre incorporating the best of health and wellbeing advice and services and a showcase of ILS activity and research with the potential for overnight stay facilities

• ILS Health and Wellbeing Centre to sit alongside Guest@ILS and offer the best of the College of Human and Health Sciences therapies and services to our communities

Arch aims to provide a regional model for health built on collaboration across the three bodies